


On Solsbury Hill

by rilina



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-23
Updated: 2006-07-23
Packaged: 2017-10-05 08:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rilina/pseuds/rilina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after Kakashi quits ANBU, he sleeps long and late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Solsbury Hill

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for volume 28.

The morning after Kakashi quits ANBU, he sleeps long and late. It's not the dreamless rest of the innocent--it never will be--but it's still an improvement over how he's slept since donning the dog mask and becoming a code name.

When he wakes, he finds that the world is pretty much as he left it. The morning's half-gone, but there's no sun slanting through his apartment windows; the overcast sky promises rain. In the gray light, Kakashi carefully cleans his ANBU gear--sword, armor, mask, cloak--and packs all of it into a trunk that also holds a pair of orange goggles, an oddly shaped kunai, a medical kit, and a broken tantou.

He can't lock away his tattoo, but he does choose a tunic from his closet that has sleeves long enough to cover it.

Noon has come and gone when Kakashi finally sets off. It's been a long time since he's had the luxury of being so late; now he's pushing the limits of what even Sandaime will tolerate. (The old man's face wavered between disappointment and relief after Kakashi burst into his office and spat out his resignation.) And Kakashi still has stops to make before he's willing to accept his next assignment. Not that he expects the administrators to have one ready for him--he only became available for non-ANBU missions hours ago--but it's always better not to underestimate the ingenuity of bureaucrats. Kakashi's always been one of Konoha's best tools; they'll find a new way to use him before long.

He's leaving the Yamanaka flower shop when the storm hits; by the time he reaches the memorial stone, he's drenched. He sets his offering of chrysanthemums at the foot of the stone; the rain runs off their cellophane wrapper in rivulets. He adjusts his hitae-ite to sit more securely over his left eye before he begins to speak.

"It's been a long time, Obito," he says, "but I'm back."


End file.
